Hey folks,
I'm certain this has been covered before, but thought it would be better to be redundant than ignorant. A sniper can usually move two and battle on terrain that limits battle (i.e. forests, towns). So I was wondering what happens when he moves onto wire. Normally an infantry that could battle has the choice of battling out at -1 die or removing wire. But can the sniper even battle at all since -1 from 1 equals zero or does he have the ability to ignore the wire battle restriction? Your thoughts are appreciated.

The rule book says, "A sniper's battle dice are not reduced when targeting an enemy unit in terrain." It doesn't say anything about a similar exception for being in wire, so while it may seem logical, it would seem to take a "ruling from above" to state that.

I haven't searched on the subject to see whether there has been one.

The Sniper Troop Card doesn't say anything about wire, but it also didn't have enough room to say anything about dice not being reduced when targeting a unit in terrain ... or scoring a hit when it rolls a star.

I would use a house rule to say that snipers could fire from wire. They only have one die for battle and they don't earn a medal if lost. Pushing snipers forward into any kind of cover should be allowed / rewarded.

Yes this came up in our Stalingrad tournament game also. Snipers must observe movement effects of terrain, but ignore combat effects. For simplicity and consistency I'd say 'terrain' in this case should include 'obstacles', and I think should include both the sniper's and target's hex when the sniper is firing - the sniper gets the usual benefits of terrain when being fired at.

Following this idea, snipers must stop on entry to wire hex but may fire at no penalty. The disadvantage is they're effectively a sitting duck for return fire!

I agree though, this one probably needs official clarification and an FAQ entry.

Question: why would a sniper go into wire? He has no cover, the fact of having a sniper is to fire from a well concealed position, and then move to another position.

If I have TFH and the game will end if I attack a single figure unit on a hill 6 hexes away, I might consider moving my sniper into a wire hex 5 hexes away from the single figure unit. The extra die I receive from TFH will enable me to take a single shot at that infantry and with a 4/6 possibility end the game with a victory. I would probably do it.